Ospreys star Ashley Beck relishing derby clash with Scarlets rivals

ASHLEY BECK will be looking to get the better of his Wales centre rivals Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams when he goes head-to-head with them in the big Boxing Day derby clash at the Liberty Stadium.

ASHLEY BECK will be looking to get the better of his Wales centre rivals Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams when he goes head-to-head with them in the big Boxing Day derby clash at the Liberty Stadium.

Beck slipped back down the midfield pecking order during the autumn Test series, with Williams re-establishing himself as cover to first-choice duo Davies and Jamie Roberts.

So the four-times capped Osprey will have something of a point to prove when he takes on the Scarlets pairing in the festive west Wales-clash.

“It’s always nice to be out playing against boys who are in your position with Wales,” said the 22-year-old.

“It will be good to go up against those two. They are two international centres at the end of the day and it’s always nice to be up against an international pairing.

“Jonathan is dangerous on the ball. You saw that against New Zealand when he made that 40-metre break from his own line. He’s a strong boy as well. So is Scott. He’s big in defence just like Jonathan.

“They have both got really good attributes in the game. It’s about going out there now and trying to be better than them.”

Having had limited opportunities with Wales during the autumn campaign, Beck has relished returning to action with the Ospreys and took great delight in sharing in last week’s landmark Heineken Cup victory over Toulouse.

“It’s just nice to be back playing again with the jersey on. I hadn’t played for a couple of weeks,” he said.

“I was a bit rusty the first week as you’d expect after not playing for three weeks. But I really enjoyed last week against Toulouse and I’m just looking forward to getting back out there again versus the Scarlets.

“Myself and Andrew (Bishop) have been playing quite well together and I can’t wait to get out there.”

The Ospreys will go into the derby in good heart following their notable 17-6 triumph over four-times European champions Toulouse.

“That’s got to be up there with beating Leinster in the Pro12 final last season,” said Beck.

“Toulouse are such a well-known quality team throughout Europe. It’s the first time we have ever beaten them.

“People wrote us off quite a bit at the start of the season because we had lost so many boys.

“So for us to turn Toulouse over was a big boost for us and for everyone who was watching.

“We all stuck together, we defended well and took our chances when they came.

“You could tell we were enjoying the game. It was just a great team performance.

“It has just given us a bit of confidence as a group.

“We want to make it hard for people when they come to us and we showed that we are not a pushover team.

“People have gone on about the Welsh teams under-performing in the Heineken and we set that marker straight with beating one of the top teams in the competition.

“It’s about us growing as a team now and putting in performances like that. It’s about us building on each game and going from there.”

The victory over Toulouse was sealed by a try from young winger Eli Walker, who was named man of the match after lighting up the Liberty with his electrifying pace and devastating broken-field running.

“Every time he touches the ball he has people on the back foot,” said Beck.

“They are scared of him when he is running because they don’t know which way he is going to go. I don’t think he knows where he’s going himself half the time, so I don’t know what the defenders are thinking!

“He was quality last week and it’s a pleasure to play with him. He played really well and just topped off his performance with his try. It was a brilliant finish from him.”

Ospreys supporters will be hoping for more of the same from their team against the Scarlets and wanting to see them complete the double in the wake of the 23-16 victory down in Llanelli in September.

But Beck knows it will be far from straightforward against their west Wales rivals, who beat the Blues at the Arms Park last Friday.

“The Scarlets are no mugs,” he said.

“They are going to come down and they are going to want to set the record straight from the start of the season.

“They have got some quality players there and it’s going to be a tough game.

“We have got to try and put all the pressure on them, which we did down in Parc y Scarlets.”

A near sell-out is expected at the 20,750-capacity Liberty Stadium, with close on 19,000 tickets having already been snapped up.

“It’s great knowing that so many people will be there,” said Beck.

“You always want the stadium to be full to build that atmosphere.

“There’s no better team than the Scarlets to have a full house against. It does show that there’s still a lot of people watching Welsh rugby.”

There’s a hectic period ahead for the Ospreys who face three games in the space of 10 days with a trip to Rodney Parade to take on the Dragons on New Year’s Eve followed by the visit of Zebre on January 4.

“We’ve got two Welsh derbies coming up, which are tough games, and then Zebre a few days later,” said Beck.

“If we can win these games, it will put us back up towards the top four, which is where we want to be.

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